Saturday, February 9, 2013

A few weeks ago I came home to an empty house so I quickly turned on the TV
for some noise while I made lunch. I had flipped on the BYU channel,
and there was the President of that university, Cecil Samuelson talking along with his wife.
They were standing side by side sharing some earlier fertility/ pregnancy hardships
they went through in the early years of their marriage.

They had to wait 3 years for their first child, and another 5 years for the second one,
and then her Dr said there would be no more babies.
They tried to adjust to this fact but it was hard
because they both very much wanted a large family.

Then several years later they heard of a family adopting a baby from Guatemala.
They quickly checked into this idea and 2 months later were able to adopt
Guatemalan twins (who are 36 years old now and have families of their own.)
Several years after the adoption they surprisingly became pregnant with one last child!

The following quote from President Samuelson really struck me so I repeatedly went back with the help of my DVR to get it right:

"We share these experiences only to show the hand of the Lord in our lives and to remind ourselves and others that seeming disappointments and disasters often are the keys that unlock the door to greater blessings and opportunities that might ever been hoped for or even conceived."
I like also how President Samuelson pointed out that while he sees the Lord's hand
often in his life, he usually recognizes it better in retrospect than while it is actually taking place.
That was a relief to hear because that is usually how it is with me, too. But he also added,"We fully believe that rarely, if ever, do good things happen to us without the influence of the hand of heaven."

Thanks Richard but I wasn't meaning anyone specific. I just love stories that make me think of the behind the scenes of our lives....what we are possibly being prepared for. When Bill died I wondered if I'd ever really be happy again. Looking back I see that much was in motion for great things to come.

This was really good. I am trying to be better about recognizing God's hand in my life each day...seeing the tender mercies that I know are all around me. I usually see it after the fact as well, but would like to see it a little better...Someone's talk once said to ask yourself each night, "How has the Lord blessed me today?" It might have been pres. Barrus. I will have to go back and look at my notes...and get the exact quote, because that's more of a paraphrase.

Allyson.......President Barrus may have said that too, but I know a few years back Pres Erying gave a talk about it in general conference. He suggested we keep a journal everyday of noticing the Lord's hand in our lives.

My husband says that sometimes the spirit you are suppose to raise comes from a different family and until you can have your own, you have to find that other spirit first. If you could have your own, then why would you search out another? I had my two and then we were told we could not have children so we adopted three and then were surprised with a pregnancy and now another! It is interesting to see a prominent member of the church going through the same thing alot of us did. Great blogg!

"Charity is accepting someone who has let us down; or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn't handle something the way we might have hoped...The best and most clear indicator that we are progressing spiritually and coming unto Christ is the way we treat other people..."-Marvin J. Ashton